There have been many advances in applications that have enabled groups of individuals to collaborate together even when separated by large distances, such as by sharing files, or chatting on the internet. Many of these advances are not synchronous and require sending documents back and forth. Others require installation of software, changes to network firewall settings, saving of files, or continuous links between users.
Examples of methods for collaborative web applications are described in PCT Application No. WO2008/102364, published on Aug. 28, 2008 (Moed et al.), U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2001/0037367A1, published on Nov. 1, 2001 (S. Iyer), U.S. Patent Application No. US 2006/0053380A1, published on Mar. 8, 2006 (Spataro et al.), and U.S. Patent Application No. US 2004/0243672A1, published on Dec. 2, 2008 (Markki et al.), all expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
In some applications, the use of a collaborative web application has been limited or nonexistent. For example, in filling of forms by a user, the opportunities for collaboratively filling the form are limited and/or require installation of software or changes to a network firewall setting. Without collaboration, providers of a form face the challenge of having the form fillers accurately and efficiently fill in the form. Additionally, the permissibility of electronic or digital signatures is increasing and may require extra diligence when filling out a form.
There continues to be a need for collaborative web applications that allow for synchronous collaboration by a broad range of users having different firewall and security settings, and having poor to excellent network stability. For example, there is a need for a collaboration method that does not require installation of software (e.g., having an executable file), that does not require specific firewall settings, that does not require HTTP tunneling, that does not require a continuous link, that can work on an unstable network, that does not require a large bandwidth, that allows for synchronizing documents in two or more computers, that does not require transmission control protocol (i.e., TCP), or any combination thereof.
For example, there is a need for collaborative web form filling applications that allow for synchronous collaboration. It would be advantageous to have a system or method that enables effective collaborative form filling, so that remote verification (e.g., of the accuracy) of the form filling may be conducted.